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Concerns

Jamaica's Rastafarian community said they want Queen Elizabeth II to pay for Rastafarians to be repatriated to Africa.

They feel that colonialization has disfigured them and they deserve some response to what they have endured said Sam Clayton, head of the cultural group Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. They feel that the queen can make a significant contribution.

Most Jamaicans are black descendants of the African slaves brought to the island by British colonizers. Rastafarians in Jamaica have been asking for repatriation costs from the British Crown since the 1960s, when a delegation from the community presented a petition to the United Nations.

"We have faith that she will listen; she is a gracious queen," Clayton said.

Rastafarians have engaged in peaceful demonstrations at places the queen has visited.

Rastafarianism's many sects worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, and many Rastas advocate a return to Africa.

The religion emerged in Jamaica and spread throughout the Caribbean in the 1930s. Adherents are often noted for their dreadlocks and use of marijuana, which followers believe aids meditation.